Wenger on added security: “No added security, the usual. We are in the middle of it. When you are involved in the competition you don’t really realise what is going on. We are isolated. You want the best level of security. I’m French. We live in emergency state there for a long time. It’s not visible what the police are doing usually.”

Wenger on Fergie’s praise: “It’s welcome because he knows the difficulty of the job. He is maybe the greatest manager who ever worked in England.

“I have a big respect for him and he respects what I have done in the game.”

Match him on 26 years at one club? “No I don’t think I’ll match him on that front. What he did over 26 years is exceptional. The average life expectancy of a manager today is 18 months. Our situation is quite unusual. I cannot answer on doing 22, 23 years.”

Will this be last match? “It won’t be because I will stay in football. I don’t know if this will be last game at this club.”

Lifting FA Cup perfect way to say goodbye, through your mind? Wenger: “No. I want to win and do well for my club and win the cup for my club. It’s not about me. It’s about us winning.”

Arsenal rich enough to compete at top of Europe? Wenger: “It’s not only about money. We are in a much better position. I guided this club for years with very limited resources and we had to sell our best players. Some clubs are stronger financially. We have a strong enough basic squad to compete at top level.”

Wenger on being greatest manager in FA Cup history: “I just want to win the cup. The team has addressed the situation on the sporting side and that would be a good crowning of the last two months. The players really want to win something. If I have some benefit on top of that too it’s OK.”

Wenger: “It’s difficult to predict where football will go. Maybe we’ll have a robot on the bench who makes decisions and the computer will analyse what we should do. We may not have humans anymore on the bench!”